Chapter 1: A Tale Of False Love

It would seem like a normal day in Vale. The sun was shining, the birds were humming, and everyone seemed to love being out in the sun. The minutes seemed to pass by quickly as they usually did everyday. This is where our lovely little story starts. A fresh tale of love different from the others in it's own way. If you don't believe me then go ahead and think what you wanna think. But trust me… it's not like anything you've seen before

Emerald is a cute girl to say the least. Soft, brown skin mixed with mint green hair and beautiful red eyes. For today, she thought she would wear her Haven uniform. After all, she was a guest at Beacon so she thought she would look different from the others… well, except Cinder who she has a crush on and her an idiot for a partner, Mercury

Her personality is something unique to her. I mean, all personalities are unique in their own way. She generally acts nice around others and conversate with. However, that is all a lie, a trick to lure others into a false sense of feeling safe. You generally think you can trust her but that's also a lie. Her true side is more dark and unfriendly. She has a bit of a quick fuze so it's not the best idea in the world to annoy her, Emerald has sort of a strange sense of loyalty, more specifically to Cinder. She tries to please her as much as she can and tries to impress her by taking on tasks and other things. This goes along side her history quite a lot but long story short, she owes Cinder everything

Anyways, going back to the story, the small group of three had traveled to Beacon for the grand re-opening. After the events that had occurred and Salem now being dead, they could now go back to school. You may be asking how they are allowed back their after they destroyed it, the simple answer is that they paid for what they did and were forced to be the ones to build it. It was hard work and took a few years but they finished. Everyone returned back so they could finish and graduate

The group of three were dearly hated due to the past events but were told to be left alone. It was Ozpin's own orders so no one could really do anything. The three walked the halls freely as classes were only being set up right now, meaning they could finally go and get food to eat. The cafeteria was the same and they made sure of that when rebuilding it. The details were almost perfect and everything was set in place like they originally had been

Cinder walks in first, followed by Mercury and Emerald. This was always the same way they walked. Cinder would lead and the other two followed behind. It was a sort of habit as they didn't have to do this anymore but it was something they were used to. The leader grabbed her food first. Just some scrambled eggs and french toast

She never ate much as she wasn't really ever hungry. Emerald would try to get her to eat more as it wasn't too healthy to eat so little. When she used to say it, Cinder wouldn't really listen to Emerald. But as time passed and the two began talking more to each other, she slowly developed a friendship, and soon, a small crush

Emerald, however, was unaware the two felt the same for one another. Both were embarrassed, and at times, were a little scared to admit it as they felt like it might ruin what they've built up to now. It was a possibility but a very small one. It seemed as if they conversated more and more everyday and their crushes on each other grows along with it

She and Mercury always got bacon and buttered toast. They always added some sort of random food item with their breakfast but not this time. Today, things seemed a bit more calming, more relaxing. Everyone was eating peacefully or having conversations. Emerald took this as a small hint to try to start a conversation

"Hey Cinder, i know you may not like Beacon as much as Haven… but are you enjoying your time here?" she began to eat quietly as she wait for a response

Cinder didn't answer as she only stared at her food. That wasn't like her at all, especially with the way she's been acting recently. She always answered Emerald so something wasn't right. Even Mercury could tell something was wrong

"Hey boss, ya feeling alright?" he spoke as he normally did which was nothing new but there was a hint of worry in his tone. He's never seen Cinder like this so it was worrying him too. Yet again, there was no response. All Cinder did was get up without touching her food or speaking and headed down to class early, another thing she never did before

Emerald looked at Mercury, her expression was one of worry "Hey Merc, what do you think is wrong with her? She's never acted like this before and it's scaring me a little"

Mercury just sighs and pats her back softly "I'm worried as well Em, maybe it's just a one day thing or something is wrong with her. Ask her after class, you know how she gets when you interrupt her while she's learning" He chuckles as he was trying to lighten the mood a little

Emerald sighs and slaps the back of his head. She was taking this seriously and wasn't going to tolerate any joking around. She finishes up eating and gets up quickly "come on, we got to go" her tone was more seriousness then worry now

Mercury rubs the back of his head "that stings man…" he gets up and grabs both of their trays and put them back before heading down to class. Emerald followed behind him at a much more quicker pace. She felt like something was wrong, like all of this was just a bad dream. She quickly shook her head and sighed quietly

Am I going crazy? I feel weird… Cinders not acting normal… did I do something? I couldn't have done something to upset the one I love… could I? She was thinking all of this through as they entered class

Cinder was sitting all the way in the back in the corner of the room. This wasn't like her at all. This only made Emerald worry more. She and Mercury sat in the front as they usually did and began to listen to Port, though Emerald wasn't listening. She was too focused on worrying about Cinder to even think, let alone pay attention to Port of all people

Class seemed to fly by as Port rambled on and on about his stories. They weren't even good stories. They had a moral at the end of them and a little sparring from time to time and that seemed to be it. Emerald and Mercury stood up and looked at the back of the room where Cinder had been sitting. She wasn't there anymore which was another odd thing. She always waited for both of them or at least Emerald. They looked at each other, exchanging looks of worry before heading out of the class to their next

When lunch time came, there was no sign of their leader anywhere so the two decided to go to the cafetiera without her. That's when they spotted her sitting alone at a table all the way in the back. Something was definitely wrong. She had acted the same all the way through the rest of their classes and now she was doing it at lunch. The longer Emerald looked at her, the more Cinder looked like she was keeping something a secret

The pair quickly grabbed their food and walked over to the table in which their leader sat at. Mercury sat opposite of Cinder and Emerald sat next to her. They began silently eating except for Cinder. Small tears began to fill Emeralds eyes as she put her hand on Cinder's.

She took a deep breath and wiped the tears in her eyes with her free hand before looking at Cinder "hey… Cinder wh-" before she could finish her sentence, Cinder interrupted her

"Don't touch me" she didn't even look up at Emerald who had removed her hands. She looked down as small tears began to fall onto her food "just leave me alone…" she trailed off and went silent

Emerald put a hand on her shoulder, to which Cinder jerked away from "Cinder…" warm tears began to run down her cheeks which were more than visible due to her dark skin

"I said leave me alone!" Cinder took off with tears of her own running down her cheeks. She was heading to their dorm and she was running fast as if she was in a hurry or attempting to get away from something. This caused Emerald to immediately take off after her. Something was really wrong, and that was confirmed. She was about to find out what

Upon reaching their dorm, she carefully opened the door and peeked inside. The scene she saw nearly broke her. Cinder was laying on the bed, crying. There was a shattered mirror sprawled out all over the ground. She carefully walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She looked down and took a deep breath

"Cinder, I know somethings wrong… and that you probably don't want any of us by or around you. But, before you tell me to leave… I want to tell you something that i've been meaning to tell you for quite some time now…" she sounded more serious about this and that got Cinder's attention. She sat up slowly and moved to the edge of the bed alongside Emerald

"I… I do too… but you go first" she didn't turn her head to look at Emerald as she was scared it would be something bad. Em took a deep breath again before beginning to speak in a soft and calm tone

"Ever since you saved me… i've felt like I felt like I owed you everything. You've taken me in and at that moment, I felt something spark inside of me. I didn't know what it was at the time but as time progressed and i've been able to talk to you more, to get to know you more… I finally figured out what it is" she turned her head towards Cinder to find that she was looking at her "Cinder… I… I love you" she smiled softly as a small blush formed on her cheeks

Cinder had tears rolling down her cheeks like a small stream. She too, smiled softly as she felt her heart skip a few beats "I love you too… Emerald" the two closed the distance and kissed each other, but something felt… off. Cinders lips felt cold and as Emerald opened her eyes to see what happened, she fell off the bed from being startled

Cinder looked like someone who had been decaying for a while now and she could smell it. Soon the room turned dark and Emerald closed her eyes. She soon heard a voice in her head. She was thinking this all had to be a dream before she heard what the voice had said

Save me Emerald. Save me from her… the voice sounded like cinders as it soon disappeared and reality hit Emerald like a truck. She opened her eyes and the scene had completely changed. The room now looked old and rotted with vines running through its walls and decayed roof. She slowly stood back up and looked down as cold tears ran down her cheeks and fell from her chin

The truth was that after the events, Salem had won this war. Remnant was overrun by grimm and those of importance have either been captured or killed. Cinder was one of the few captured and Mercury had died from being eaten by grimm. The question now was, are there any others? Or is she the only one left to fight for herself

Emerald had recollected herself and put her weapons in their holsters and walked out of her old dorm. She walked through the abandon halls and the nearly collapsed cafeteria. She exits the school that turned out to be a nearly broken and empty beacon. She walked away from the school as she looked up towards the sky "one day… one day I will get you back Cinder. And i'll make Salem pay…" she continued her walk until she spotted what looked like a flair in the distance. Her heart thumped and without second guessing it, she began running towards it. There were other people in this now twisted world, and if she wanted to take Salem down, she was going to need help…